Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.real,americast.usa-today.real From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: real Mon, Oct 19 1992 Date: Mon, 19 Oct 92 04:38:13 EDT Message-ID: 10-19 0000 DECISIONLINE: Real Estate USA TODAY Update Oct. 19, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network MANUFACTURED HOME SALES SOAR: After years of suffering alongside traditional housing sales, manufactured home sales are up 17% since January. An estimated 16 million people now live in 7.5 million manufactured homes - mostly in Florida, California and Texas. The surge is surprising given the stereotypes that peg such parks as tin can villages. But the limp economy seems to be the best sales pitch. (For more, see special Homes package below.) RATES HIT 10-WEEK HIGH: Interest rates on 30-year mortgages rose to a 10-week high of 8.06% last week, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said Friday. The new rate, up from 8.01% the week before, was the highest since rates also averaged 8.06% during the week ended Aug. 7. On one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.05%, up from 4.97% the previous week. SURVEY SAYS STARTS DECLINED: Housing starts declined 3.2% in September to an annual rate of 1.197 million, according to a Bloomberg Business News survey of forecasts. The West and Midwest are expected to be especially weak. The Commerce Department is scheduled to release its report on Tuesday. The expected loss follows a 10.4% increase in August to a rate of 1.237 million. FREDDIE MAC EARNINGS DROP: Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.'s third quarter earnings were hurt by the mortgage refinancing boom, officials said Friday. Millions of Americans refinanced their homes as mortgage rates declined to their lowest levels in two decades. The Mortgage Bankers Association estimates that $410 billion of mortgages will be refinanced this year, up from $165 billion last year. VICTIMS GET EMERGENCY COVERAGE: The Florida Dept. of Insurance has filed emergency procedures to provide alternative homeowners' coverage to Hurricane Andrew victims whose insurance companies have become insolvent. Florida Insurance Commissioner Tom Gallagher announced the procedures Friday, and said they will be effective immediately to provide protection to insured who had policies with seized companies. HOMEOWNERS' AGE WILL RISE: Baby boomers are upping the average age of homeowners, according to Runzheimer International. By decade's end half of family householders, renters or homeowners will be between the age 35 and 54. Householders under the age of 35 are expected to fall from 25 million in 1990 to 23 million in 2000. All together, the number of U.S. households should top 100 million during the 1990s. AGENCY ISSUES COMMITMENTS: The New Jersey Housing & Mortgage Financing Agency has issued financing commitments to construct 1,233 affordable apartments for families and senior citizens. Fourteen developments are slated to receive more than $33.5 million in construction loans and permanent mortgages, as authorized by the Agency Board of Directors at its August meeting. MORTGAGE PASSTHROUGHS DECLINE: Mortgage passthroughs declined 1:8 Friday in sympathy with treasuries on concerns that a Democratic victory in November would increase the federal budget deficit, according to Bloomberg Business News. While the sluggish economy still points to another interest rate cut, investors are increasingly nervous about the chances that Democratic nominee Bill Clinton will win the election. RYLAND TO SELL MORTGAGE BONDS: Ryland Mortgage Securities Corp. Four, a unit of the Ryland Group, filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell as much as $750 million of collateralized mortgage bonds. The bonds will be backed by mortgage collateral and by funding agreements with various limited-purpose finance companies that are secured by mortgage collateral. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON HOMES: PARKS GO FOR NEIGHBORHOOD LOOK: The Manufactured Housing Institute says the trend in housing parks is toward a neighborhood look. Barefoot Bay, Fla., population 9,000, is one of the largest manufactured home parks in the USA and an example of the surging manufactured home market. At Barefoot Bay, new homes start at $39,000; 50-by-80-foot land plots go for $16,000. It is a planned development where uniformity reigns. PARKS ATTRACT YOUNGER OWNERS: Traditionally the realm of retirees, parks such as Barefoot Bay -established in 1969 and 300 lots shy of its 5,000-lot capacity - are drawing more and more young parents in search of safety and community. Buying one of the homes is like car shopping. There's a list of standard features (like plywood floors) and options (like mildew resistant shingles, door chimes and upgraded carpeting). HOMES SHOULD HOLD UP: The homes should withstand 110 mile an hour winds, per building codes set in 1974 - currently under review - by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Homes are anchored to the ground by a series of steel cables that loop around the house and into the ground. But Jon Linfield of the Housing Assistance Council says "short cuts are endemic in most low-cost trailer homes." (End of package.) Real Estate Editor: Martin Baucom. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM